India to regulate its Ayurveda medicines

The Indian government is devising a new regulatory structure to validate, supervise and improve industry standards of Ayurveda drugs

he Indian Health Ministry has begun the process and so far validated 84 drugs

Singapore: The Indian Central Government is planning to create a strategy to standardize and devise a new regulatory structure for the Indian Ayurveda medical system. The proposed system will better the supervision of drugs and validate their quality, clinical trials and improve industry standards of the Ayurvedic drugs made in India.

Unlike China and Japan, India's has not successfully marketed its traditional medicines abroad and in comparison to other countries, India's contribution to global herbal market is minuscule. For instance, a product like the famed Chinese aphrodisiac Ginseng has the same properties as that of Ashwagandha, an Ayurvedic medicine. But Ginseng's sale far outweighs that of all Indian herbal drugs put together.

The Indian Health Ministry has begun the process and so far validated 84 drugs. A new regulatory structure is also created to ensure better supervision of the products and to look into the need for clinical trials for drugs used in the Indian system of medicine. The Central government has also planned to create a 200-bed referral hospital on Ayurveda in Delhi.

As per a 2008 government estimate, there are around 8,000 drugmakers in India, but not more than 25 can be classified as large-scale manufactures. Currently, around 1,000 single drugs and about 3,000 compound formulations are registered.The government is also planning to nurture the Ayurveda industry by opening new institutes in the country.

The Union Health Minister Mr Harsh Vardhan recently said that the All India Institute of Ayurveda would be set up in Jasola in South Delhi and would admit its first batch of post-graduate students in 2015-16, as the government has already approved the curriculum.